Use of dominant chord - minor to major.

I have a question about use of chord-patterns. It seems to me I am falling into this pattern a lot. When I write a piece in a minor key, I often finish a phrase with say 2 measures of the dominant chord (V). The first measure will be without the raised leading note (making the chord minor), and the second will be with the raised leading note (making it major). And that leads in to the tonic chord again. So I usually have a phrase-pattern like this:

{any chord}..{any chord}{V(min)}{V(maj)} {I (beginning of new phrase)}...

What I want to know, is this a common thing to do? I am wondering whether it is a trait which I am using too often, and maybe this is a cliche. Sometimes I also add a 7th to the dominant major, so it the patter looks like this:

{any chord}..{any chord}{V(min)}{V(maj7)} {I}...

An example phrase in A minor might be:

F-Dmin-Emin-Emaj7-...

followed by a phrase starting in A min. I guess my main question is - I know it is common for the dominant to lead into the tonic, but in a minor key is it common to go from dominant minor to dominant major to tonic??

AFAIK it is not common at all. You rarely find the minor v in "classical music" and if you do it is definitely not a dominant chord(the dominant chord is a Major chord with minor 7th).

Of course you can do anything you want but it is astylistic for classical music.

If you like it then use it.

There are many other alternatives that you can use in minor instead of the v. You can try the augmented 6th chords, the Neapolitan, Aug 5th, dim7th, etc...

The reason has to do with the minor scales. The b7 is used when descending and the n7 is used ascending. What this means is that the b7 is not used cadentially cause it leads to the b6 while the n7 leads to the n1.

So you can definitely use v but then it should goto a chord with the b6 in it so its really not a v chord. Now in modern music and modal music the v chord definitely acts more like a "dominant" than in classical but its not a dominant chord and doesn't have the same cadential effect.

Your basic formula is i x ... x y V7 i in minor

in Cm you have

Cm ... y G7 Cm

And y can be many things such a D%7(half dim), Do7(fully dim), Db7(Ger+6), D7, Dm(rare), F#o7, F#o(It+6), D7b5(Fr+6), Db(Neapolitan), etc..

(note that many of these chords, in general, require specific voice leading to be effective)

Also, using the b3rd for your V chord should impart a sort of bluesy sound if it resolves downward or it could be acting like a #2 if it resolves upward. Both of these are popular in modern music such as jazz.

If you do something like

D7 Gm G7 Cm

with one voice doing A Bb B C then you have a Bb acting as a chromatic passing tone if the Gm chord can be confused as a G7. Really what is going on here is V7/V v V7 i and could be considered a sequence but there would really need to be some chord inbetween to make it effective.

Something like

D7 Gm x G7 Cm

where x is any one of the chords I mentioned. The D7 temporarily tonicizes Gm so it sounds as if we might be modulating into Gm but then the x chord pulls us back in. You could even use something like C7 F for x because then the D7 Gm C7 F would be more like a cycle of 5ths making the Gm seem more natural.

Really you can do what you want any you can use just about any chord you want. But I do not know of any instances where v and V are used right next to each other in classical music except in when it is actually one chord and the m3rd is used just for color. I'm sure there are a few examples out there but they are rare and I suppose if it were the case one could probably explain them in some other more satisfying way such as a III chord with no root. Although it would still be strange because they III generally doesn't lead into V. Anything is possible though with the right context.

Jon

In terms of a dominant function (not strictly Dominant as that requires a major third and minor seventh), the only limitations is in how chromatic you wish to become. Take the end of Richard Strauss' Der Rosenkavalier. No less than 6 different chords have the function of the dominant, only one of which being the dominant, these include:

bI with a b3 and b5 - VI with a #3 - idim with a b3 and b5 - bV with a b3 and b5 - augV (#5) - and the normal Dom7.

None of these first five are at all traditional dominants, but they can be achieved as follows:

The Subdominant (S) of the subdominant (SS) of the subdominant (SSS) are all by association, subdominants to the dominant. They are all also dominants of the parallel keys of the tonic. These parallel keys are the Upper, and Lower Tonic Relatives (both minor and major thirds). These parallel keys can be considered the same or equal to the tonic key, and can thus share the dominants and variations of dominants (and even the same effect discussed here). This is not limited to just the dominants of the Relative keys but also subdominants (etc.)

In effect almost anything except the tonic and the immediate subdominant (purely Aural reasons. Theoretically the subdominant could be considered dominant, but it doesn't sound so) can be considered dominant to the tonic. However, I'd advise not taking that on board with out the knowledge base behind every chord you chose, and why you are choosing said chord.

It's not hugely uncommon in the classical tradition, it just needs to be done carefully an tastefully.

You might consider using chord iv (i.e minor IV); that occurs all the time in classical music. If you want to use chord iv (i.e minor V), then try looking at some Bach fugues in the minor that use real answers - there you'll find a feast of interesting ways to modulate from i to v (note the word *modulate* - this use of v is almost always a modulation, if not a strong tonicisation). Book II fugue II showcases an almost instant transition.

Schoenberg's Gurre-Lieder ends with vi42 - I. If I remember correctly.

The minor v chord can be used in a cadence, but context may need to be considered carefully.

In my own horn concerto, the first movement (in G minor) ends with a v-I cadence, reversing the order of major and minor chords. It works mainly because it is only the first movement of a multi-movement work, and so the lack of finality in this "quasi-perfect" cadence does not detract from the piece as a whole.

Besides, it becomes an effective part of modulation from movement to movement: because the 2nd movement begins in C major, the v-I at the end of the 1st movement can be thought of as part of an extended ii-V-I leading into the 2nd movement.

In my own horn concerto, the first movement (in G minor) ends with a v-I cadence, reversing the order of major and minor chords. It works mainly because it is only the first movement of a multi-movement work, and so the lack of finality in this "quasi-perfect" cadence does not detract from the piece as a whole.

Of course, that is a mixolydian cadence of sorts.

I quite like I64 to v, but from everything I've learned minor v is not used like at all in classical music

Sometimes I also add a 7th to the dominant major, so it the patter looks like this:

{any chord}..{any chord}{V(min)}{V(maj7)} {I}...

An example phrase in A minor might be:

F-Dmin-Emin-Emaj7-...

followed by a phrase starting in A min. I guess my main question is - I know it is common for the dominant to lead into the tonic, but in a minor key is it common to go from dominant minor to dominant major to tonic??

Ahem, a maj7 chord is NOT a dominant chord. It is a chord with a major 7th. For example, in Am, the Vmaj7 (:O) would be an E chord with D#.

Thus, you probably don't mean Vmaj7 but V7 (dominant 7).

I quite like I64 to v, but from everything I've learned minor v is not used like at all in classical music

(When moving to "V", the "I6:4" (2nd position) having the dominant in the bass is really an appogiatura to "V" and should therefore be notated "V6:4", not "I")

Actually, "natural V" is used quite often in classical music in the following setting, say in G minor, when the bass moves down from the tonic to the dominant, as in G-F-E-D. In this descending minor scale, F must be used instead of F#. And the typical harmonies used above such a bass are I-natural V-SD-V, where SD is a dominant preparatory chord, either a IV, a II, a V/V or even a VI.

This is one of the few examples when, within a sentence, you can move from "V" to a SD chord. But this "V" lacking the leading tone, it is not choking.

Raphael

(When moving to "V", the "I6:4" (2nd position) having the dominant in the bass is really an appogiatura to "V" and should therefore be notated "V6:4", not "I")

That is the US system. There are others that are just as much in use as the US. I64 is just as correct as V64, it just depends on which system you are using.